


Turnstiles

by Montoyafan



Category: Batwoman (Comic), DCU - Comicverse, Gotham Central, The Question (Comics), The Question: Pipeline
Genre: Batwoman - Freeform, F/F, Kate - Freeform, Kate Kane - Freeform, Renee - Freeform, Renee Montoya - Freeform, The Question, turnstiles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-03-17
Updated: 2012-04-04
Packaged: 2017-11-02 01:45:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/363632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Montoyafan/pseuds/Montoyafan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Renee and Kate have a chance encounter. Where will it take them? Modified timeline: the new 52 is in effect, but Renee's journey to becoming the Question is intact, as are the events in the Crime Bible and so on and so forth.</p><p>WARNING: Mature content present, not so much on the first chapter. Expect foul language, lesbian sex and violence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In a Station of the Metro

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so here's my first shot at a Kate Kane / Renee Montoya fanfiction. Let me know how I'm doing. Feel free to correct my English mistakes, it is not my mother tongue. There will probably be smut later on, so you have been warned.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not intend to infringe copyright or make profit, all characters belong to DC comics. The poems are the property of their authors but they belong to the public domain now. Authors have been credited though.
> 
> I do not like the reboot that much, so in this universe, although the new 52 events are taking place, Renee is working on GCPD but also conducts her own work as The Question II and the events on the old 52 have not been erased

Chapter 1: In a Station of The Metro

""The apparition of these faces in the crowd;  
Petals on a wet, black bough."

In a Station of The Metro - Ezra Pound

 

Renee's tired. She has brought down a freak today, but he has put up quite a battle and even though she managed to make herself presentable so as to not draw attention to herself, she knows that she is going to be hurting quite a lot in an hour or so. So Renee is grateful when the metro gets to the station just as she's past the turnstile and picks up her pace so that it won't leave before she gets in. She sits down on the only available seat, leans her head back until it rests against the window and tilts the fedora down until it protects her eyes from the harsh fluorescent lights. No one bothers her, and for a few minutes, she relaxes.

She is used to it: the clattering noise of the metal parts moving against each other, the flashes of light as they move in the tunnels, the small movements made by the passenger on her right side, the metal bar she holds with her left bar, the car's floor vibrating gently as the train moves forward, the voice on the speakers announcing the stations, the sound the doors make to warn of their opening and closure at each station.

Suddenly, it becomes more familiar than it should be when she smells a perfume she knows well but cannot quite identify. Realization sinks in fractions of a second before she opens her eyes, but it is already too late to stop herself and she is taken aback - for the umpteenth time in her life - by a flash of red hair and very light skin. Kate has not noticed her - she is reading a book one handed, something about Japanese poetry - and her left hand is immobilized in a splint.

Rage invades Renee when she thinks about the various ways in which she would torture the fucking bastard that did this to Kate, but she reminds herself that Kate is very able to do that herself and has probably already done so. Renee cannot help a sad smile when she realizes that Wrath is still her own deadly sin, but this is something she'll have to deal with later. Lust is giving her hell right now.

Kate eventually looks up from her book and notices Renee. Her green eyes detect promise in Renee's hazel orbs. What exactly is she promising, Kate does not know. Renee is about to talk, but Kate does not trust her or herself and she takes advantage of the fact that there is a lot of noise. She points at her ears, and Renee leans back again and remains silent.

Kate resumes her reading, but she can feel Renee's eyes on her when the detective thinks she is not looking. Kate glances her way a few times, but Renee keeps looking away when she's about to catch her and she decides that two can play that game. She takes her sunglasses out of her hair and puts one of the sidepieces in her mouth. She crosses her legs and suddenly looks Renee's way: and this time the detective is too enthralled to look away. Kate is surprised by Renee's audacity when she returns her gaze squarely and gives her a sly smile, but then again, Renee has always had a lot of cheek.

 

\- To Be Continued -


	2. Orange and red leaves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Same disclaimer as before: I do not own the characters, but I'd love to. This is not for profit, so please don't sue. Content is mature (language, sex, violence...the works) and there are spoilers if you have not read the Batwoman series. Femslash. You've been warned.
> 
> English is not my mother tongue, so I accept corrections and constructive criticism, as long as we keep it civil and respectful.
> 
> Thank you!

================================================================================  
CHAPTER 2: Orange and red leaves.

The voice on the speaker announces their station. Both get up and move towards the doors. Kate knows that she has won and does not look at Renee. Renee looks slightly embarrased but tries to save her dignity by staring intently at the train's doors, which won't open fast enough for her, as they are still in the tunnel. Kate smiles slowly, still looking the other way. 

The detective is nervous.

When the train finally comes to a halt, just before the doors open, Renee looks at Kate and points at her bag.

'Do you need help with that?'

It's a rhetorical question, Kate knows. Renee is already doing it, her hand moving towards the bag's handle and gently brushing Kate's hand in the process. There it is: a glint of cockiness in the dark haired woman's eyes. Vengeance.

Kate smiles and looks at Renee's eyes for a few long seconds before she replies, simply:

'No'.

Renee freezes in mid-motion and backs up one step. She was not expecting that. She looks dejected and Kate feels a little bit -just a tiny bit- guilty, but it fades away as soon as Renee frowns and focuses on the doors again.

Kate holds the bag firmly with her good hand and spins it around before moving forward and getting off the train, bag following suit. Renee is not fooled: she saw the way the bag wobbled when she pulled it down.

Just as the detective turns for the stairs and Kate leaves in the direction of the lift, she turns around, her red hair framing equally red lips:

"But I could use some company."

Renee stops in her tracks. She spins around, hopeful but unsure.

"My plane does not leave until 2 hours from now."

" I thought the mighty Kanes would use their own private jet and limo when they need to fly somewhere"

Kate gives her a look.

"Do you want to grab some coffee or not?"

Renee hesitates, runs her hand through her hair, looks back at Kate. Finally, she laughs.

"Alright, then."

As soon as they approach the station's door, a cold gust of wind greets them, and fallen leaves fly about. They hail a taxi, get in, and everything goes quiet, too quiet, and Renee cannot take it anymore.

"So how's Maggie?" Against her will, Renee's voice comes out strained.

Kate looks at her, but Renee keeps staring out the window in a futile attempt to disguise her emotions.

"How should I know? I haven't seen her or heard from her in 3 weeks. But you work with her, so tell me, how is she?"

Montoya turns around.

"What? Why?"

Kate shrugs. "It's complicated"

Renee gives her an incredulous look.

"What? Don't look at me that way. It's not like you have never been complicated, 'Nee"

"But...everything seemed to be going well... I do not understand"

"Really, you don't understand? Are you going to tell me that you never had any girlfriend ask you where had you been, night after night, even when you did your best to spend some of those with her? Because I happen to know differently, Officer Montoya".

Renee remains silent.

They pay the driver and get down at the airport, and this time, Kate's protests are ignored and Renee gets Kate's bag.

The café they choose is small and quiet, in stark contrast with the bright lights and music pumping from every store and restaurant in the airport. The waitress is very beautiful but neither of them seem to notice.

"Are you ok? You don't look so well yourself"

Renee keeps her gaze on her coffee when she answers.

"Yeah...just...tired, is all"

"And bruised, by the way you move. Oh, come on, it's not like I wouldn't notice."

Renee looks sideway before answering.

"Must be getting old." She pours the sugar on her coffee before continuing: "so where are you going?"

"Washington. I need to do some research."

"Research, huh?"

"Yes, Renee, research. Is the concept so foreign to you?"

"On what?"

"That's none of your business."

"Don't worry, I think I've got an inkling" Renee smiled. Kate cursed under her breath, causing the detective to release a hearty laugh.

"Stop it..."

"Alright."

They fall silent for a few minutes but then Renee laughs again.

"What!"

"Ah, nothing, don't mind me. I just thought..."

"What? You thought what?"

"I just thought that you are incredibly beautiful when you are angry."

"Renee, don't do this..."

"I'm sorry, Kate. I really did not mean to, but... Stating otherwise would be lying, and you know it."

Kate fumbles with her wristband.

"It's just... We always end up the same way..."

"I know."

"We both have the...you know... work...I mean the 'extra work'..." but Renee's expression softens as she watches Kate make air quotes and suddenly Kate is smiling in a very sad way that reminds Renee of those days before Christmas when they shared a kiss, when Charlie was... She wants to avoid the pain and brings herself back to the present, but now both of them wear melancholic expressions.

Kate's flight is due to be anounced for boarding any minute, and they get up and walk lazily towards the counters. They stop in front of a bookstore and Renee notices a title that calls her attention: "Women, Fire and Dangerous Things". She glances sideways at Kate, who is rambling on and on about Japanese poetry, and Renee thinks that Kate is the whole package, woman, all fire and always surrounded by dangerous things and as Kate goes on Renee caresses her cheek and kisses her deeply, all her emotions pouring in.

After the initial surprise wears off, Kate kisses her back and she could swear that she felt her smile against her lips. Kate wraps her arms around her neck and Renee holds her tight.

Kate lets out a small laugh that reverberates against Renee's chest. Seconds later, they separate and they lean their foreheads against each other.

The voice on the loudspeakers announces Kate's flight, and Kate's smile wears off and Renee closes her eyes, foreheads still touching.

"Take care of yourself, Renee"

"You too, Kate. Careful with your 'research'. Those guys are dangerous"

"How the hell did you know?"

"I'm a detective, remember?"

"I should be back in a week. Call me"

"Will do".

They look for another instant at each other, until Kate turns around, hesitates, produces her notebook and rips a page off.

"Here. I really liked this one. Maybe I can get you to develop a taste for this kind of poetry."

"I highly doubt that" Renee answers, but she accepts the gift anyway.

"Just give it a read, don't be a jackass" They both laugh.

"I have to go" Kate says.

Renee simply nods. Her voice would give her away right now.

Kate turns around and leaves, and when she can no longer see her, Renee exits the airport as well.

The full weight of fall hits her, with its gloomy skies and its million tones of orange. She sits down on a park bench and unfolds the poem.

_"Won't you come and see  
loneliness? Just one leaf  
from the kiri tree. "  
_ Matsuo Basho

"Oh Kate" she sighs, gets up and gets on her way home.

-To Be Continued-


	3. The Persistance of Memory

"Montoya! What the hell is the matter with you today?" Captain Sawyer's voice boomed behind Renee's back. Renee turned around, dazed, and stared blankly at the captain.  
  
"First, you misplaced a file and now you pour half the damn cofee pack on the floor!"  
  
Renee looked at the floor and realized that the captain was right and also more short-tempered than usual. Yes, she had misplaced the file, but realized almost immediately and corrected her mistake right away, and about the coffee... well, she'd fix it in a minute, no big deal.  
  
Maggie lowered her voice to a whisper:  
  
"Are you having 'problems' again? Do I need to force you to talk to a shrink?"  
  
"No, Captain, thanks for your concern."  
  
"Are you sure? You don't look very well."  
  
Renee knew what she meant. She had done her best to cover the dark circles around her eyes, but her moonlighting as The Question meant a chronic lack of sleep that was taking its toll on her.  
  
"Are you listening to me?"  
  
"Yes, Captain. Thank you for your concern, again, but I'm fine."  
  
"OK, just clean up that mess. Oh, and you are buying the next pack."  
  
"Yes, Captain." She sighed inwardly. She had managed to get away without raising much suspicion, all things considered...  
  
"Oh, Detective, one more thing"  
  
"Yes, Captain?"  
  
"Stop the bar brawls"  
  
"Captain, I do not know what you mean."  
  
"Bruised hand... you've got a history, Renee. I am on your side and you know that, but if you don't behave, I'm going to send you to the shrink before all hell breaks loose. Understood, Detective?"  
  
"Understood, Captain. But it really is not what you think."  
  
"Well, then make sure that I don't have to think about you at all. That's all I need."  
  
"Affirmative, Captain."

 

Maggie held her gaze one more second, making sure that Renee was being sincere. She decided to let it go for now,

nodded and left.  
  
"Getting laid, that's all you need, Captain", thought Renee with a smile, as she cleaned up the mess.  
  
She'd have to keep an eye on Maggie, though.  
  
==========================================================================  
  
When Kate's flight is two hours away from its destination, she stops reading and peers out of the window. She

witnesses a beautiful sunrise, light filtering through the clouds, and for a moment, she forgets about everything

else and focuses on the moment. She wants to store all this rare beauty in her memory, so she can summon it at will.  
  
As soon as the flight attendant offers her breakfast, the spell is broken. Kate accepts it: she has already fixed the image in her mind.  
  
She props up her book and proceeds with her reading as she has breakfast, slowly turning the pages reveling in descriptions of snowy fields and cherry trees and laughing upon the occasional humorous poem. She turns the page  
and reads:  
  
 _A weathered skeleton_  
 _in windy fields of memory,_  
 _piercing like a knife_  
  
(Matsuo Basho)  
  
Kate feels instantly sick as an image the Weeping Woman had shown her flashes through her mind. Beth's skeleton, covered still in Alice's costume, is followed by the sound of a knife cutting through her glove and into her arm.  
  


Kate closes her eyes. She feels anger consuming her and tries to calm down. Looking for a calming image, she looks

out the window again, but the image is no longer that appealing to her. A mighty headache is on the way, and she can feel the pulsing on her throat, her control rapidly slipping away from her.  
  
She needs to go to a safe place.  
  
She wracks her mind, but all the images that appear involve Beth, her mother's perfume, their bickering in the mornings, their soccer games, their mother asking them what they want to do for their birthday...  
  
The urge to scream is becoming unbearable.  
  
She tries again: the texture of her father's crisp uniform as he hugged them both when he came back home - damn him!-, "I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, because I'm not myself you see" -no, not Beth again-, shots, her mother's face  
covered by a bag...  
  
Kate turned the page on the book, furious, trying to get the offending poem out of sight, and there it said:  
  
 _Cold as it was_  
 _We felt secure sleeping together_  
 _In the same room._  
  
Matsuo Basho  
  
Maggie - no, Maggie had broken up with her, that was not a safe place to go. She had to find another, more powerful, less painful memory.  
  
The feeling of Renee's arms around her as she kissed her in the airport. The look she had given her a moment before, as if she'd just seen something and felt the urge to kiss her right there, right then. The way her voice had changed when she told her how beautiful she was, even when she was angry.  
  
Kate closed her eyes, again, and let it all wash over her. She tried not to think about Renee's issues and their troubled past. That moment in time was all that mattered. And she calmed down. And they landed.  
  
=========To be Continued, stay tuned for chapter 4========


	4. Kermesinus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's violence in this chapter. Be warned.

# Kermesinus*

  
  
_Not one traveller_   
_braves this road-_   
_autumn night_

(Matsuo Basho)

  
Renee adjusted the mask and released the binary gas. She descended from the rooftop and checked her watch: right place, right time.  
  
Renee breathed in and straightened up. Something was not right.   
  
Moonlight reflected on the cobbled plaza and sidewalks, on the car roofs and on the droplets of water sparkling from the fountain in the middle of the plaza. In the distance, Gotham's clock tower glowed in yellow light. No one on sight.  
  
Renee did not like it, but still, it made sense. Her contact had warned her that he might be a few minutes late, but something was out of place.   
  
She concentrated on her senses, trying to decipher what was causing her uneasiness.  
  
The air smelled oddly clean for Gotham. The wind was soft and cool and it carried the faint smell of the hyacinths planted around the plaza. The night was humid even though the sky was only partially cloudy.  
  
Renee glanced behind her back. Nothing.   
  
She could hear water trickling in the fountain, some fifty meters away from her. Distant sirens mingled in the background with the muffled sounds coming from the televisions on the nearby buildings. It was all too quiet.   
  
Footsteps approached. In the distance, she could make out her contact's silhouette, approaching from the street on the other side of the plaza that led to the clock tower.  
  
She walked in his direction, trying not to let her mistrust show.  
  
"What a beautiful night! I wouldn't mind dying tonight, mind you." he said, looking up dreamy eyed.  
  
She just nodded. She was glad that he was wearing a hood. His face always reminded her of Crispus.  
  
"When is it landing?"  
  
"Next week. I've loaded the coordinates and info on the CD. Everything's there." He produced the disk and handed it to her.  
  
Renee stored it and retrieved a phone, keeping her eyes on her surroundings. She dialed in a key and waited for a confirmation message.  
  
"I've made the transaction. You should receive it very soon."  
  
Her contact checked his phone and it pinged almost immediately. He smiled.   
  
"Always a pleasure. If you need me again, you know where to reach me."  
  
Renee is aware, in the back of her mind, of his hand being outstreched towards her. She is more acutely aware, though, of movement in the shadows on the other side of the plaza.  
  
She takes his hand and shoves him behind her, yelling at him to take cover.  
  
A volley of bullets comes her way, and she takes cover behind the fountain, while drawing her own sidearm.   
  
She shoots five times and sees three thugs fall on the floor, screaming, blood squirting all over the place.  
  
Five more are closing in.  
  
They shoot another volley and her informant is screaming and panicking. She pins him down on the floor and counts her targets: one, two, three, four...  
  
"Where the hell is the other one?" she wonders, while shooting her closest attacker.  
  
She shoots twice and misses, but is forced to take cover before she can shoot again.  
  
The informant is resisting her grip.  
  
"LET ME GO! YOU WILL GET US BOTH KILLED!"  
  
"Shut up and stay put! If you run out there you will die!" she replies, while assessing the best way to carry him to safety. She leans down the side of the fountain and shoots one attacker from there. She returns to her original position and reloads her pistol. The magazine is not empty yet, but she is not taking chances...  
  
The three thugs that she could see have moved to the other side and she knows that they are going to attack her from both flanks.   
  
"SURRENDER! And we will let you live. We just want his life!"  
  
He resists her harder still.   
  
"Keep still!"  
  
"YOU ARE GONNA GIVE ME UP! YOU ARE GONNA GIVE ME UP AND SAVE YOUR ASS!"  
  
"If I'm in the middle of this shooting, it is because I want to save **your** ass. Trust me. Stay put."  
  
"GIVE HIM UP! WE HEARD THE LITTLE SHIT! AFTER ALL, IT **IS** A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT TO DIE! DO YOU WANT TO DIE WITH HIM TOO?"  
  
"NO! LET ME GO!!"  
  
His screams are not letting her hear her attacker's steps, but she knows that they are closing in. She sighs, and knocks him out with the butt of her gun.  
  
Hurried steps to her left. A pair of boots make sound on her right, but the remaining attacker remains unseen.  
  
She rolls to the right and shoots the attacker four times in the chest, spins around, crouches and watches the other two get close to her informant. His hood is back and she sees his shining glasses, and his mouth semi-open, surrounded by a goatee. He looks awfully like Crispus.  
  
"NO, NO NO NO NO!!!" she screams as she empties her fresh clip on both attackers.   
  
They shoot back. A bullet scrapes her shoulder and another lands on her right arm, her own blood squirting into the fountain. Her pistol falls and her arm hangs limp, but they are both down.  
  
She feels a piercing pain on her back and turns around. There he is, she thinks, the missing one. He stabs at her throat. She manages to block the knife with her left hand, but her legs are faltering. With no time to waste, she twists his hand   
and breaks his wrist. She throws him against the fountain's border, hitting his head against it. He slides down to the floor, unconscious.   
  
She feels very weak and leans down on the fountain. She takes her phone out, but her vision is blurring and her hands tremble incontrolably. A cold sweat moves down her back.  
  
Silently, she slides down. She looks up at the moon again, and agrees that, yes, it is a beautiful night to die.   
  
================================================================================  
  
  
Kate goes back to her very expensive hotel suite, feeling down. She has not found the kind of information she expected to find and she considers that her trip was, quite frankly, a failure.  
  
She collapses on the bed and thinks. She goes over every contact that she has ever had, every friend, old acquaintance, friend of her father, anything. Nothing.  
  
She goes over her whole contacts list on her phone book, until she reaches Renee's number. She smiles. Maybe she could give her a call...   
  
Her smile turns from sweet to wicked and she prepares her most sexy voice...only to be greeted by Renee's voicemail.  
  
She leaves a message - an odd, awkward message- and hungs up, dissapointed.  
  
Maybe she is having second thoughts - that is so typical of Renee. What was she thinking, allowing her advances?  
  
Then again, maybe she is on duty. Yeah, that must be it.   
  
She decides to wait and see. For now, it's been a bad day, and all she wants to do is take a shower and go to sleep. A cold shower.  
  
==========================================================================================  
To be Continued!   
  
Author's note: _kermesinus_ , also _cremesinus_ or _carmesinus_ ,  is a **possible** etymology (word origin) of the English word _crimson_.

Also, I am aware that I did change tense in the middle of the chapter, I'm conducting a little experiment.

 


End file.
